Sterling Heights residents like city services

A questionnaire mailed to 6,250 households is letting the Sterling Heights City Council know what its residents think of city services.

According to the 476 people who returned their surveys, 86 percent said they believe the city offers an excellent or good quality of life, with nearly 90 percent saying Sterling Heights is a good or excellent place to live. The survey also shows that 77 percent of the respondents said Sterling Heights is a good or excellent place to raise their children.

Community Relations Director Steve Guitar said he believes the $9,500 the city spent on the survey was worth it. He said the last survey was in 2006, and this year’s review was much more inclusive and detailed.

Guitar said the survey consisted of 90 questions and covered every topic related to city services imaginable.

Some 81 percent of those surveyed said they would definitely recommend Sterling Heights as a place to live, with 4 percent saying they would not.Mayor Richard Notte said the survey is what council expected. He said it was similar to the results of the last survey six years ago.

“I think the city has done a commendable job in providing services to our residents, considering all of the cuts we’ve had to go through,” Notte said. “That’s quite an accomplishment. We’re doing the best we can and we’re still doing better than most cities.”

At last Tuesday’s meeting, residents learned that 78 percent of the city’s revenues are directed to the public safety and public works budgets. City Manager Mark Vanderpool told residents that their tax bills are the lowest in 12 years — down 19.1 percent.

Councilman Michael Taylor said he would like to see more money put into new road construction. He said if the council does nothing, it will regret it soon. By doing nothing, the wear and tear on cars and trucks will increase.

Councilman Paul Smith said he believes the city blew $9,500 paying for the survey. He said fewer people were responding than in the two prior surveys.

“It’s a waste of money,” Smith said. He added not enough people respond to get a good idea what the public is thinking.

The 1999 survey was sent to 54,000 people and 18,000 were returned, he said. In 2006, the city received 1,500 responses.

“This year we have a booklet with all kinds of information,” Smith said. “Whether it is useful is yet to be determined.”

Guitar said the survey once again clearly shows that residents value public safety. He said staffing and response times were rated as very important.

He said a little over half of respondents would support a millage.

Last month, Sterling Heights was once again rated as one of the safest cities in the country. Guitar also said people don’t want any more layoffs in the police and fire departments.

“One of the biggest complaints is traffic and the maintenance of property,” Guitar said. “Code enforcement may hire a few more part-time people next year to do inspections.”

Guitar said the city paid $23,168 for the 2006 residential survey and $19,183 for the 1999 survey.